{"id":135038,"date":"2017-11-29T23:07:06","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T04:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=135038"},"modified":"2017-11-29T23:07:06","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T04:07:06","slug":"canadian-astronaut-announces-new-experiments-for-upcoming-space-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/11\/29\/canadian-astronaut-announces-new-experiments-for-upcoming-space-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian astronaut announces new experiments for upcoming space mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"When<\/a>
When Canadian Astronaut David Saint-Jacques boards the International Space Station in November 2018, he’ll be involved in groundbreaking experiments on how the body’s immune and vascular systems function in space. (Photo<\/a>: David Saint-Jacques\/Twitter<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LONGUEUIL, Que.\u2014When Canadian Astronaut David Saint-Jacques boards the International Space Station in November 2018, he’ll be involved in groundbreaking experiments on how the body’s immune and vascular systems function in space.<\/p>\n

The Quebec City native said Wednesday the work he’ll do during his six-month mission will have benefits on Earth as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s very important for us to always pick studies that, yes, help space flight, but also they must have some impact for people on Earth,\u201d Saint-Jacques told a news conference that brought together scientists and other space experts at the Canadian Space Agency south of Montreal.<\/p>\n

While in orbit, Saint-Jacques, 47, will be wearing a so-called \u201csmart shirt\u201d that monitors an astronaut’s vital signs.<\/p>\n

Jean-Francois Roy, a Montreal-area scientist who helped develop the technology, said the bio-monitor will be worn at all times, even while the astronaut is sleeping.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don’t have to hook up to a wall or specific place in the space station,\u201d Roy said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can just wear the smart shirt and do everything else, so we monitor the heart, respiration, the oxygen in the blood, the blood pressure, the temperature \u2014 everything that is required to really analyze the astronauts.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Earth, the device has the potential to monitor the health of Canadians in remote communities who have limited access to medical care.<\/p>\n

Saint-Jacques will also test a new instrument known as a bio-analyzer which will perform near real-time analysis of blood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis blood tester works on a finger prick, a drop of blood is all you need,\u201d explained Ian D’Souza, a scientist with an aerospace company in Ontario. \u201cYou won’t have to have special skills to draw blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bio-analyzer could also have applications on Earth because a test can be done immediately in a doctor’s office, without having the sample sent to a lab.<\/p>\n

D’Souza added that in the future, the tester could potentially be used to analyze urine, saliva and water.<\/p>\n

Two new experiments were also announced, including one that will investigate and monitor the immune systems of astronauts during long-duration missions on the space station.<\/p>\n

Another \u201cfirst-of-its kind\u201d experiment on vascular aging will study the impact of weightlessness, nutrition, physical activity and radiation on the cardiovascular system.<\/p>\n

Saint-Jacques said he’s as healthy as he’s ever been, but that will change once he gets aboard the space station.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I arrive in space my bones will start to weaken due to weightlessness,\u201d he said, noting that \u201castronauts in space loose more bone mass in a month than an adult over 50 loses in an entire year on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saint-Jacques also stressed the importance of the experiments he will be involved in.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch in space is important if humans are to explore further and for longer periods \u2014 especially if humans are ever to set foot on Mars,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONGUEUIL, Que.\u2014When Canadian Astronaut David Saint-Jacques boards the International Space Station in November 2018, he’ll be involved in groundbreaking experiments …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":135061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16,5],"tags":[398,2051],"class_list":["post-135038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","category-technology","tag-canada","tag-space","mauthors-peter-rakobowchuk","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}